Explore the latest trends and actionable insights on the Global Copper Mining market to inform business strategy and pinpoint opportunities and risks

Consumption of Copper in United States of America, 2017 - 2025 (Thousand Tonnes)

  • Consumption of Copper in United States of America reached 1,700 Thousand Tonnes in 2020

  • Consumption declined by a CAGR of 1.89% between 2017 to 2020, and is expected to grow by ...

  • GlobalData projects the Consumption to decline at a CAGR of ...

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Consumption of Copper in United States of America, 2017 - 2025 (Thousand Tonnes)

Published: Feb 2025
Source: GlobalData

Explore the latest trends and actionable insights on the Global Copper Mining market to inform business strategy and pinpoint opportunities and risks
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The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on global copper mining in 2020, with a fall in overall production compared to 2019. The pandemic led to the temporary closure of mines and lockdown measures across the major producing countries, with production in Chile and Peru, the world’s two largest copper-producing nations, estimated to have fallen respectively. 

Global copper reserves by country  

According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), global copper reserves had a significant position as of January 2020. Chile, Australia, Peru, Russia, and Mexico were the top five countries, which together had huge amount of copper reserves. 

The El Boleo Project in Mexico, Cerro Verde Mine in Peru, El Teniente Mine, Radomiro Tomic Mine, Los Bronces Mine and Chuquicamata Mine in Chile, Olympic Dam Mine and Cadia Mine in Australia are some of the largest mines in the world in terms of copper reserves. 

Copper consumption  

Global copper consumption fall in 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19, which severely impacted the industrial and construction activities leading to lower copper demand. The largest demand for copper comes from the construction sector, with buildings and infrastructure combined accounting for close to half of total global copper consumption. While many countries experienced declining demand, China, with better control over the pandemic situation and government investment in infrastructure. In contrast, demand fell in the US, Germany, India, and Japan due to heavier impact of COVID-19. 

In 2021, a recovery in the global economy, supported by distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, is expected to lead to rising construction and industrial output, which is turn will lead to a significant increase in copper consumption. 

Major copper consuming countries  

China is the leading copper consuming country followed by US, Japan, Germany, India. 

Demand from the construction industry 

Construction is one of the key copper consuming industries, with China as the largest market, accounting for a major share of global copper consumption. 

Global construction output value in 2021 will be marginally above the 2019 level in real terms, but there are marked differences among the major regions in terms of how soon they will return to pre-COVID-19 levels. 

Demand from the electric vehicles (EV) 

Since the beginning of 2020, stringent measures adopted by the Chinese government to control the COVID-19 outbreak supported China in recovering and resuming business activities at a relatively faster rate than almost all developed nations, particularly the US and Europe, where slow measures resulted in prolonged panic conditions. Overall, this reflects brighter prospects for China’s EV production, which is expected to rise by a significant share in 2020. Additionally, China’s decision to cut subsidies in a phased manner until 2022, rather than eliminating it completely in 2020, is expected to provide an essential boost to the domestic EV market. In contrast, the production of EVs in North America and the western and central parts of Europe is anticipated to drop respectively. 

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